(Editors Note: This study concludes the benefits of involuntary outupatient commitment will continue even after AOT ends, as long as the person has been in involuntary outpatient commitment for one-year or longer. In NYS, this would suggest modifying the law, which currently allows for six month court orders, (which can be renewed)).

This study examined whether persons with mental illness
who undergo a period of involuntary outpatient commitment continue
to receive prescribed medications and avoid psychiatric hospitalization
after outpatient commitment ends. Methods: Data on Medicaid pharmacy
fills and inpatient treatment were used to describe patterns of
medication possession and hospitalization for persons with mental illness
after they received assisted outpatient treatment (AOT) in New
York between 1999 and 2007 (N=3,576). Multivariable time-series
analysis was used to compare post-AOT periods to pre-AOT periods.

Results:

For former AOT recipients, sustained improvements in rates of
medication possession and hospitalization in the post-AOT period varied
according to the length of time spent in court-ordered treatment.
When the court order for AOT was for six months or less, improved
medication possession rates and reduced hospitalization were sustained
in the post-AOT period only when intensive case coordination services
(assertive community treatment, intensive case management, or both)
were kept in place. However, when the court order was for seven
months or more, improved medication possession rates and reduced
hospitalization outcomes were sustained even when the former AOT recipients
were no longer receiving intensive case coordination services.

Conclusions:

Benefits of involuntary outpatient commitment, as indicated
by improved rates of medication possession and decreased hospitalizations,
were more likely to persist after involuntary outpatient commitment
ends if it is kept in place longer than six months.

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